Occupy Movement Drives To Protest Keystone Pipeline

                                                   
Well, who said the Occupy movement is dead?  They were out in force this week protesting legislation that might approve the Keystone Pipeline meant to bring cheap oil down from Canada and reduce gas prices.

The Occupiers hate big oil because they make money...and anyone who makes money are the arch enemy of the Occupy movement.  While it was perfectly okay for their idol, Obama, to squander $200 billion dollars in bankrupt solar companies, the occupiers will give no quarter to the oil companies who keep our nation's economy moving.

Obama's then Energy Secretary, Stephen Chu, made a speech up at Stanford a couple of years ago.  He said it would be ideal if gas prices could get up to the $7 to $10 per gallon rate because that would cut consumption and clean the air.  Of course, not being an economist, Chu did not venture a guess as to what ten buck a gallon gas would do to our economy.  He's not concerned with such mundane details.

Never the less, the Occupy Movement embraced Chu's remarks and stated goals of making anyone who drives one of the gas powered cars pay big!  But, lest someone dare to apply logic to this madness, let's take a look at how those massive occupiers arrived to stage their demonstration.  Here's just one of their parking areas:

                                               
Now, as near as I can tell, there are a hell of a lot of gas guzzling Kia's and Chevy's and Oldsmobiles and Fords and Toyotas and Honda's in the Occupier's designating parking lot.  Hmmm...either the Occupiers got mom and pop, or a green check from Uncle Sam, to pay for all that gas...but as I see it Exxon just made a pile of profits fueling those Occupier cars to protest Exxon.

Obama Taking Payola At $500,000 Dollars A Pop

                                                       
Most of us now know that when Obama's lips are moving, he's lying.  But perhaps the biggest hoax he ever visited on the American people was his 2008 pledge to be a different type of politician.  He said it was time for the lobbyists and power brokers to flee Washington.  He promised he would never host lobbyists at the White House.  Not only did he break that promise but hired a great many of them for his staff.

Then last week our liberal friends, the New York Times reported Obama's spanking new Organizing for Action (OFA), has set up a little "payola" operation whereby anyone who's willing to donate $500,000 dollars to OFA will get access to the White House with warm personal meetings from The Anointed One.  You can then "state your case" for a smart, well spoken Chicago lawyer to be your mouthpiece in support of a little "federal green" flowing your way.

Today The Hill reported that even the Liberal sponsored Common Cause organization has gotten involved to try and stop this sell out of government power and influence to the wealthy.  Common Cause President Bob Edgar was quoted as saying "if President Obama were serious about ridding the government of influence peddling he would shut down this operation immediately.

You may remember that back in January Obama and company decided that, although his runs for office are now complete, and though a campaign organization is no longer needed, that they could keep many of his toadies employed by promoting favorable media offerings that would burnish the Obama brand.  By keeping all of his cultists employed he can continue to use campaign tactics to promote his socialist programs and build his stature for history.  Who knows?  With enough donor money perhaps Obama can have his face carved into Mount Rushmore with 'the greats'!

The OFA has stated they intend to raise millions of dollars this year in an effort to promote Obama's agenda.  No doubt tens of millions will go toward demonizing Republicans and promoting massive deficit spending.

On Monday's press conference Obama's Press Secretary, Jay Carney was asked about this OFA payola program.  Carney responded with "the White House is not for sale".  However, when pressed Carney refused to deny that the big donors to OFA would be allowed White House face time with Obama.

Sad.  Damned Sad.

Barack & Michelle's Great Media Whoredom

                                                       
Okay, so the other night I'm watching the Oscars.  Haven't watched them for years cause I don't go to movie theaters anymore and won't be seeing any of the nominated movies until they show up on TNT late next year.  Another reason I don't watch the Oscars regularly is because I can't seem to give a damn what star is wearing what dress designer's work and don't want to hear all the liberal Hollywood snark oozing through botox-enhanced celebrity lips.

But I must admit I was a bit intrigued about the bio-pic "Lincoln" so I tuned into to see how it would do in competition.  In watching through the night I was pleased to see there was much less politics injected into the program.  Then, just as the program is coming to a conclusion, out trots Michelle Obama to present the Best Picture Award!

"Damn", I said.  "Is there anything I can watch where the media whoredom of Barack and Michelle don't invade the airwaves?"  Is it not enough that Barack boogies out to the Rose Garden for his daily sermon?  Is it not enough that Barack is now a "regular" on "60 Minutes" as the interviewer literally slobbers over in adoration of Barack?  Is it not enough that all three main stream networks actively cover up the anointed one's mistakes and cast hosannahs his way each morning and evening?  And is it not enough that Obamanites David Ploufe and Robert Gibbs have augmented Al Sharpton and Ed Schultz and Rachel, et al, and are now "reporting" on Obama's greatness 24-7 on MSNBC?

I used to watch Leno until I found Barack is almost a regular.  Then, in some incestuous manipulation he and Michelle wormed their way onto Jimmy Kimmel and Letterman and Fallon too?

What warped sense of "adoration addiction" do these two possess?  Doesn't Michelle have a couple of teenage daughters to raise?  Doesn't Barry have a country to run?  Why this need to be constantly slobbered over and adored by liberal Hollywood and the liberal media?  Is there something missing in their character that they find being leadership icons not enough for them?

So, last night when Michelle trotted out to present the award to "Argo", I said "I Go" and turned off the set.

I have a feeling when Obama has run down this country as far as it can go, when Obama must finally release the reins of the Presidency, he and Michelle will not hit the speaking tour right away, the route to riches for Hillary and Bill.  No, I think they'll probably start their own reality show and then America's liberals can follow their lives throughout the day...and slobber accordingly.

It's ironic that our greatest President, Abraham Lincoln, plotted war, comforted war widows, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, wrote his own speeches, and did it all in the private confines of the White House.  Leadership can be a lonely thing indeed.  And Honest Abe made fewer speeches in his entire Presidency than Obama makes in a single week.

Sad.  Damned Sad.

Obama's Sequestration Memo

                                                   
Memo From:  Barack Obama

Subject:  Sequestration Strategy

To:  All Cabinet Secretaries

Okay guys, Bob Woodward's nailing of Jack Lew, of our staff, as the "idea man" for the Sequestration proposal has left us a bit behind the 8-ball this morning.  A change of strategy is now necessary, strategic but not tactical.  I still plan to spend a lot of time on Air Force 1 this week, continuing my campaign to demonize Republicans on this matter.  I've got a full schedule this week.  I'll be traveling around the D.C. area today, empathizing with the teacher's union and their subsequent loss of tax payer funded day care workers and touting our outstanding National Teachers Union.

Tomorrow I'll be in Norfolk commiserating with military civilian contractors who are subject to furloughs and layoffs as a result of this 3% cut in the growth of this year's budget.

As we get closer to Friday's implementation of Sequestration cuts let's all get out there and bemoan the loss of that 3%.  Let's emphasize the fact that our nation's children will not be safe going to school, that our first responders won't be able to respond to a crime scene and homes will be burned down because there's no fire fighters on duty to battle the blaze.  Janet (Napolitano), I want you to emphasize that we can expect additional hordes of illegals crossing the border as we scale back the Border Patrol.  Katherine (Sebellius), please highlight the fact that we'll be doing less Aids testing (please refrain from admitting that states and localities perform 95% of these tests).

Secondly, let's make sure we're on the same page on firings and furloughs; do not let me hear that you're laying off beauraucratic "desk jockeys".  If we're going to lay some one off let's make sure the voters "see the pain".  Don't be laying off back office workers and administrators; lay off those in the "store windows", the fireman and police and teachers.  Ray, (La Hood) let's make sure TSA gropes some old ladies and wheel chair patients and see if we can't slow down airport security screenings to get the flying public's attention.  And Ray, it might be helpful if your air traffic control folks could start putting pilots "on visual" in a few snowstorms around Chicago and Milwaukee!

Let's close down Sequoia and Yellowstone National Parks; that ought to raise a few eyebrows!

Look folks, it's unfortunate that we have to resort to fear tactics but we simply cannot let the pendulum begin swinging toward budget cutbacks; if we end up going that way it'll be damned hard trying to get back to deficit spending...and you all know if we don't spend we don't stay in office.

Y'all see Michelle on the Oscar's last night?  Wasn't she cute?  Between her appearances on Leno and Jimmy Fallon this week she's done us a lot of "PR good" and we're gonna need all the help we can get in the coming weeks if we're gonna win the budget battle.

Finally, let's continue to hammer on "the rich" (please don't bring up the January tax raise we already got from them!).  And let's continue to refrain from mentioning that $500 billion we've given to our Solar friends and hammer big oil for their $4 billion dollar drilling subsidy.

Jump Ball!  Let's win the tip-off!

Barack


Post Script:  Here's how silly this panic over Sequestration is:  Even after Sequestration the government will spend more than it did last year; the 3% is only a cut in the rate of the budget increase.  A second example:  Let's say your family income is $3,000 dollars per month.    For economic reasons you must cut 3%, or a hundred dollars a month from your family budget.  You would manage:  You might move from beef to chicken, from steak to hamburger, but you would manage, just as millions of Americans have had to do during this four year recession.  But when the government is asked to cut the rate of "increase" by 3% they cry like little girls and go off and pout and scream and threaten not to eat their veggies.   Sad.  Damned Sad.

Dictatorship, Obamanites & Pied Piperism

                                                     
Last November 7th at least 48% of us woke up and were stunned to learn that America had voted to re-elect Barack Obama.  30 million unemployed Americans, $6 trillion dollars added to the national debt in four short years, Gross Domestic Product growth half of the historic average, and the failure of Obama's "Arab Spring" strategy in the Middle East simply were not failures enough to change leadership.

We were no less amazed when we learned that, even before Obama was sworn into a second term, Congressman Jose Serrano, Democrat from New York, introduced a bill in Congress that would abolish the 22nd Amendment (HJ 15, introduced on 8 Jan 2013).  The proposed bill has now made its way to the House Judiciary Committee, to be prettied up before it goes for a floor vote, thus eliminating the two term limits for Presidents.

Most of us are also surprised at the mad glee among Democrats who have labelled Obama's 2% popular vote win as an impressive mandate for more massive spending and a continuing effort to shred both the United States Constitution and the last vestiges of our nation's moral fiber.

But really, when we look at this phenomenon from a historical perspective we shouldn't be surprised.  For over two thousand years dictators, whether monarchical or other, have always been able to assume and maintain power by way of subterfuge or ruse.

Monarchs, typically corrosive, corrupt and in-bred, maintained power by declaring a direct link between the people and their gods.  The Divine Right of Kings offers the concept that a monarchical leader can do no wrong simply because he was God's choice!  Were he not God would not have willed him into that position.

In the last century the fates brought us a leader who was able to demonize huge swaths of humanity, and deeming himself as "savior".  Adolph Hitler came to power by demonizing the Jews and the Allied Powers who brought Germany to her knees at the conclusion of World War I.  Hitler was so successful that he was able to assume direct responsibility for the death of 50 million people world-wide during the Second World War.

How do tyrants win their massive power grabs?  It seems it is always a matter of timing.  In the Age of Monarchs, the despot simply agreed to align themselves with the Catholic Church who could successfully carry the religious message that poverty and peasantry was Godly.  In exchange for that "Devil's Bargain", the church received its fair share of the booty and the monarchy got theirs.

Obama's march to power has come from a demonization campaign not unlike Hitler's crusade against Jewry.  He has now become the King of the Secular, accusing those Americans who "cling to their guns and their god" as somehow just being ignorant dunces who no longer have a place in Obama's secular Kingdom.  An Obama "family" may very well be a marriage between two men, two women, and perhaps, "man and dog" before it's all over.  Obama's Kingdom is a multi-cultural hodpodge of political interest groups; radical Hispanicism, "street cred Blacks" drawing federal Green Checks and Food Stamps, free cell phones and preferential quotas which not only give them a seat at the table, but the prime seats, front and center.  Because Obama's followers have so little moral turpitude, he must maintain power through the pimping of federal benefits, thus the massive trillion dollar annual budget deficits.  Obama's religion is that of the "worship of Big Government" who will take care of you, cradle to grave, as long as you're willing to obey the Big Government "rules".

And who else but a politician schooled in Chicago politics is better prepared to cobble together diverse interest groups, united only by their collective lust for federal largess and declare himself "emperor?"

Yes, Obama's political success, in the face of massive leadership failure, has been a combination of timing, talent and a charismatic wooing of the secularly lustful.  So we shouldn't be surprised by Obama's re-election.

And who knows; perhaps if Obama can demonize Republicans for another couple of years, perhaps if he can continue labelling all who oppose him as "racists", he can achieve majority in both houses of Congress and get that 22nd Amendment repealed and declare himself "Emperor for Life".

Obamacare Blows Up In Dem's Face!

                                                       
Okay folks, I know you think the C-Span Channel that broadcasts all those Congressional hearings is boring, but, really, you should have been around to watch the Senate Finance Committee's hearing Wednesday on the Affordable Health Care Insurance Oversight.

Folks, you haven't seen so many faces of misery since you watched Les Miserables for three and a half hours...and they were all Democrats.  And one of them, Senator Max Baucus, was the primary sponsor of Obamacare in the Senate!

Now, try to follow me here because this gets pretty complicated.  (It seems that Nancy Pelosi was right; you have to pass Obamacare to find out what's in it...and the Democrats are now learning what the Republicans warned them about.  It's an unworkable mess that is throwing millions of Americans off the health care rolls!)

Okay, apparently, tens of thousands of American employers began throwing workers off their health care plans and opting to pay the much lower federal fine for not offering health care for their workers.  Thousands more are even now converting their full time workers to part time workers by limiting working hours per week to less than 30, in compliance with Obamacare rules.  (Remember when Paul Ryan and the Republicans predicted employers would do this?  Remember when Democrats were warned that employers would move to save operating expenses by moving their entire work force into federal healthcare exchanges?)

Now, these workers who have lost their health care benefits are busy trying to sign up for state health care exchanges.  (There are internet sites available if your state has agreed to sign up to Obamacare).
However, when these American workers, soon to be without employee provided health care, go to the Health Exchange to sign up, they are finding they are not qualified!  It seems that during the signup process, applicants are required to fill in various income and benefit data, which then flows over to IRS computers who then are to spit out what your premium costs will be and how much federal tax credits you'll receive in order to receive subsidies to help you afford health care premiums that are as much as 30% more than you were paying under your employers plan!

Big Problem!  The IRS is only allowing somewhere around 9% subsidy support for Obamacare Health care Exchange premiums that are priced so much higher than the worker was paying under his employer plan!  (Surprise, Surprise!  Remember Republicans warning that forcing working Americans to pay for the 30 million tit suckers who pay nothing for their health care under Medicaid would drive the premiums of working Americans higher?)

Second Big Problem!  The IRS computers won't mate up with the Health Care Exchange computers because the IRS computer system is obsolete!  So when workers try to sign up for Obamacare the IRS and the Health Exchanges are telling applicants to go to hell!

And so fireworks really broke out at the Finance Committee hearings on Obamacare yesterday afternoon.  Senator Max Baucus, (Dem), said.."how could this happen?  I'm hearing from my constituents that they and their families have been left out in the cold and are without health care because the Exchanges are not accepting them!".  Quote from Senator Bill Nelson, (Dem), Florida "my constituents are not going to be happy to hear this administration failed to implement the necessary changes to accommodate health care applicants...someone has to pay for this!"  Similar outrage was professed by Senator Ron Wyden (Dem) from Oregon.

Sadly, Obama Program Director for the Health care Affordability Act was on hand to lend testimony.  All he could seem to do was sympathize with his Democratic buddies, saying that maybe the problems could be ironed out by the end of 2014 but could offer no ideas about how that could be done.

An Update!  This morning a Harvard economics professor came on CNBC and announced that, according to a federal study his group just completed, the Health and Human Services Secretary is going to be forced to come back to this same committee, hat in hand, and request $700 billion dollars more be allocated to Obamacare just to pay for those automatically covered under current federal programs.

Also, sadly, the Wall Street Journal  reported that, in addition to the 30 million Americans not currently covered under Obamacare, we can expect tens of millions more who will be left in the "no health care Twilight Zone"; those who were doing just fine with their employee health care plan until Obamacare was implemented this year.   And many of those who were working 40 hour weeks will find themselves deemed "part time employees" working less than 30 hours per week and unable to afford Obama's premiums even if they could get through the application process.

And, as usual, while the working poor, and the rapidly declining middle class will be out in the cold without any health care, the Medicaid/Welfare tit-suckers have no worry.  They are covered by that $700 billion dollar pot of gold Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services will be demanding from Congress soon!

Sad.  Damned Sad.

Blacks; Still Another Free Pass

                                                     
Yesterday morning Jessie Jackson Jr. and his wife, adorned with a campaign donation-funded fur coat, paraded into court and pled guilty to using over $750,000 dollars in campaign funds to purchase home furnishings, elk heads, Michael Jackson's guitar, a bedroom makeover for their daughter, expensive furnishings for their two homes in Chicago and Washington and a host of other luxuries.

First up was JJJ, blubber-lipped and teary-eyed as he stood before the judge and pled guilty.  Then the wife stood and sobbed so deeply that the word "guilty" was barely intelligible.  They had little choice.  The court had a list of purchase receipts that was almost as thick as Nancy Pelosi's Obamacare bill.

So far the Feds have ignored the FBI investigation that charges JJJ with offering several million dollars to the former (now incarcerated Illinois Govenor) in exchange for getting to fill Obama's old Senate seat in Illinois.  JJJ could have joined the "big boys" in plundering the federal piggy bank if he could have succeeded in buying that seat!

So what was the main stream media's reaction to these heinous crimes, now admitted to in court?  This morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Scarborough and Mika and company were lamenting this great tragedy.  On CNN the news pundits were offering prayers to Jackson and his family and hoping for future redemption.

But it was the public statement of the prosecutor in this case that gagged me.  The prosecutor, who happens to be Black, stood in front of the courthouse and praised Jackson as an outstanding spokesman for the Black community, offered prayers for his family, and then offered that, after a short prison term, JJJ would redeem himself, comeback stronger than ever and resume his anointed position as a valued leader of the Black community.

Only in an America with such massive collective white guilt could felonious criminals like Jessie Jackson Jr., Tax Felon Al Sharpton, and Tax Felon Charlie Rangel be hailed as "supreme leaders" for their race.

Quite frankly the only defense I can see for any of the above cited three is that they are a product of their environment; Chicago, the most politically corrupt city in America, and Harlem, the "Disneyland" for Green Check recipients.

Sad.  Damned Sad.

Mexico Demands List Of American Gun Owners

                                                   

The Mexican Senate has drafted legislation that would demand that the Obama administration turn over a list of all American gun owners who live in the border states.   So far neither Obama, or his Director of Homeland Security have responded to these demands.

This kind of got me to thinking about Mexico's rationale for wanting to have this information.  Anyone who lives in a border state is well aware of those little orange pamphlets that the government hands out to illegal Mexicans who are planning to cross the border.  The pamphlets provide maps designating routes to take which are most likely to get you into the U.S. without getting caught.  They also show watering holes and water aid stations placed in the desert to aid illegal invaders along their route.

So, it is not beyond reason that the Mexican government wants to include addresses of gun-toting Americans in those infamous orange phamplets so that the invaders might do a little home invading to score an arsenal of weapons to bolster their human smuggling and drug smuggling.  Or perhaps, they just want to warn away invaders who might accidentally trespass on an American gun toter's property as they navigate their way to Phoenix or Mexifornia.

As far as I'm concerned it makes no difference;  the Mexican government has no business getting involved in who's "packing" in America.

As soon as I read of Mexico's demand for American gun owner information I expected our President to quickly tell them to take a flying leap....then I remembered who our President is.

Standby for news...let's see if Obama bows to Mexico's request.  After all, this would certainly score The Anointed One and the Democrats more Hispanic votes.

Sad.  Damned Sad.

Sequester The Molester

                                                     
Well, as I predicted yesterday, Obama trotted out a federal largess interest group and put them on stage behind him as he commanded Congress stop the Sequester that he proposed last year from taking effect next week.  In this case he had three rows of $150,000 dollar per year cops and firefighters standing behind him as he sought to take the high road on the budget deficit.

And again he trotted out the Trotsky-esque, Communistic charge that we must stick it again to "millionaires and billionaires" despite the fact that Congress just gave him last month the tax raise on the rich that he asked for.  Now, unable to work with a a blank check, and a credit card from China, Obama is asking Congress for more money.  The $1.6 trillion dollar in deficit spending is not enough for Obama's taste.

The problem with Obama's "cry wolf" strategy is the tiny amount of cuts that actually take effect if Sequester actually goes into effect.    Of the total $2.6 trillion dollar annual budget, Sequester will cut a minute $85 billion or about 4% of the entire budget.  The tax paying middle class can tell Obama and Pelosi and Reid how easy it is to cut 4% of their budget!  Our decaying middle class has had to sacrifice a hell of a lot more than 4 cents on the dollar during the past four years.

Hell, Obama took almost that much out of your paycheck last month when the payroll tax went back to 6.2%!

And, please, let's keep this in perspective.  Even this $85 billion dollar Sequester cut is not a true budget cut; it is only cut in the rate of federal spending.  Obama, even with this cut, will spend more this year than he did last year!

Want a good laugh?  Go to the Congressional Budget site.  Just three weeks ago Congress passed a so-called Hurricane Sandy relief bill totally $60 billion dollars.  Only $10 billion of that actually goes for hurricane relief.  The other 50 billion?....yep, you guessed it...it went for earmarks for pet projects in congressional districts that are thousands of miles from Hurricane Sandy.

Maybe, when things get really tough Congress might "borrow" from that $50 billion pork barrel piggy bank to pay the salaries of those cops and firefighters making $150,000 a year and eligible for that same amount after 20 years of service!

Oh well, I had a good laugh this morning.  I laughed until I cried at Obama's dog and pony show this morning.  But no crocodile tears for folks living off the government tit that are making six times my annual income.

Obama's "Modus Operandi"

                                                     
Back in the mid-80's we took our kids to their first trip to Disneyland.  The kids enjoyed the rides and attractions and we, mom and dad, just went along for the ride.  One of the attractions I did enjoy was the audio-animatronic Lincoln who would sit in robotic splendor as we sat in the theatre and watched a short film about Lincoln and his beloved home state of Illinois.    At the conclusion of the film, the Lincoln robot would be begin talking and gesturing, reciting bits here and there of his most famous speeches.  As the more fiery elements of his speeches were spoken Lincoln rose from his chair and spoke elegantly "on his feet".

I was really impressed and enjoyed the show immensely.  So, when a couple of years later, the kids wanted a return engagement to Disneyland I readily agreed.  Armed with a roll of ride tickets my kids, now older, took off by themselves, after our agreement to meet at a specific time and place.

And I headed back over to the place that housed the Audio-Animatronic Lincoln.  On this occasion I was disappointed.  Having already seen and heard Lincoln's fine words before, the show was repetitious and boring now and my mind drifted until the show was finally over.

Sadly, I feel just about the same way about our current President, except about 100 times more intensely.  As near as my research can take me, I estimate Barack Obama has made an average of a speech a day, either outside in the Rose Garden, or at a Press Conference, or in one of those slobberingly adoring 60 Minutes Interviews.  So, as near as I can figure, I have heard Obama's programmed "mantra" at least four hundred times.  If we were to play "the drinking game" where one has to take a shot of bourbon every time Obama uses the terms "level playing field", "the rich need to pay a little bit more", "let me be clear", "we can't balance the budget on the backs of the poor", we would all find ourselves raging alcoholics.

I have two Chihuahua dogs.  One is quite calm, the other is a yapper.  She yaps when she perceives it's dinnertime, she yaps when birds appear in the back yard, she yaps when kids three doors down are at play.  After many years I have learned just to tune the yapping out.  I just don't hear it anymore.

President Obama is, sadly, a "yapper" and I too have learned just to tune him out whenever I am unfortunate to run into him on the airwaves.  I know before he even hikes that arrogant chin that I'm going to hear the same old tired doggerel.  And I also know that Obama will soon be climbing into Air Force One to make that same speech on another day, on another "voter-friendly" stage where he is assured an adoring audience who will never challenge him in a public forum.

This is Obama's "modus operandi."  Make a speech from the Rose Garden, then board a plane to carry his divisive doggerel to Cleveland or Chicago or Baltimore or Los Angeles or San Francisco or Detroit, to those "green check havens" that depend on Mr. Obama's generous government largesse for their welfare check, food stamp cards and free cell phones.

Much like Disneyland, this President lives in a fantasy world of his own; a world of perpetual campaign mode where leadership is never required, and where the constant flow of Chinese dollars are borrowed to finance the "hero worship" the man so desperately craves.

Like Disney's robotic Lincoln, our current President need not apply logic to problem solving, need not spend a moment in conference with Congress, need not even possess a heart!  As long as he can utter the pretty words our Pied Piper President shall always have a big parade, even as he leads them off the fiscal cliff.

Sad.  Damned sad.

Midnight In Mexifornia, Mexico

                                                     
It's Midnight in Phoenix, Arizona.  I just took a call from my wife, who's been visiting her sister in San Jose, California.  My wife, on her last night over there, was a passenger in her sister's family car.  They were on their way home from a seafood dinner with friends in celebration of Lent.  '

Literally, before they knew what hit them, a driver from behind plowed into them, rear-ending them so violently that it sent my wife's family's car spinning out of control on the highway.  Fortunately, my brother-in-law was able to  bring the car under control after several 360 degree spins around the highway and repeated collisions with the concrete medium.

The driver, who rear-ended them fled the scene.  The demographics in the Southwest for these hit and run drivers indicates over 90% of the perpetrators are illegal Hispanics with the remaining ten percent being drunk drivers.

Upon taking this midnight call, I asked my wife if anyone was seriously injured.  She said she's feeling some neck pain from the trauma of the violent collision and that, other than whiplash from the force of the hit everyone seemed to be okay.  I breathed a sigh of relief.

The wife said they were just then standing on the side of the road.  Police and paramedics have arrived at the scene.  She said, as soon as law enforcement completes taking the report they will be transferred to the police station so that they find out where their wrecked car will be towed for repair, then they will be released so that they can call a cab to take them home.

I am not surprised by the hit and run incident.  California (Mexifornia) is now a lawless state infested with ten million illegal Mexicans.  Between the state and municipal traffic reports there are over two hundred hit and run traffic accidents a day now in Mexifornia, over twenty times more than before the illegal invasion.  Law Enforcement in Mexifornia treat these accidents as casually as they would treat a charge of petty theft.  They have become accustomed to it.  Almost always when police are able to run down the hit and run driver they find he's an illegal Mexican, driving without license, car registration or insurance.

The famous Greek Scholar, Stanford Professor, and cultural writer, Victor Davis Hansen recently wrote of being the victim of hit and run accidents on three different occasions in a two year period.  He lives on a small farm just outside Selma, California.  Hansen says that, after the last accident, police were able to apprehend the hit and run driver.  Turned out to be an illegal Mexican woman.  Amazingly, the officer preparing the report tried to talk Hansen out of even filing a report.  The officer told Hansen that his insurance would cover the damages and reporting this accident could only cause much misery for the illegal driver.

So, in the land of the lawless, my wife and her sister's family are standing out on the side of the road, shivering in the cold, waiting for the officer to file his report; a report that will be digitally filed in some master file containing tens of thousands of hit and run accidents in the state of Mexifornia and will never be marked "case solved, case closed".

Just another "routine" incident where the lawless go unpunished and the law abiding suffer.  I'm just glad that everyone walked away without serious injury.  My family could have been one of those unfortunates who are routinely killed or critically injured by an illegal invader who knows no law that ever applies to him, and for a state that welcomes the lawlessness with open arms.

Sad.  Damned Sad.

Note:  Just made a follow up call to my wife.  She said the officer who was to transport them from the accident scene had to make another stop on the way; he had to call for backup and handle a drunk driver at another location before they could proceed for home.  Just another night in lawless Mexifornia.

He Murdered His Valentine

                                                 A True And All Too Recent Tragedy                  


Last November, two weeks before Thanksgiving,  they lay in bed, holding hands, as she whispered a plea "please take my life and end this misery".   Her eighty five year old husband squeezed her hand, his eyes clinched tight as ripples of sadness rolled through his chest and settled in his aching heart, as he contemplated the implications of her plea for a merciful ending.    The mind battled with the heart, both of which lamented that their life's journey had taken them to this junction.

He remembered they loved walks in the rain, warmed by the clasp of her hand within his.  He remembered the tenderness of honeymoon, when love was all they owned; love and the dreams of a long life together.  He remembered the first house they made a home of, his strength as he painted a nursery and built a crib, her loveliness as she bent on knees and planted the first garden.  And their love blossomed as fruitfully as the yellow roses that adorned both sides of the front porch steps.

But now his dearly beloved lay prone, nearly lifeless beside him, her body ravaged by 20 years of cancer and multiple sclerosis.  She had just been told she would have to endure another extended stay in the remote confines of hospital.  No doubt she thought of the toll two decades of caregiving had had on her husband as she pleaded for a merciful end of the pain and heartache.

G-------and V------, the two were known by their neighbors and many friends.  The two were inseparable, often admired for their mutual love and mutual devotion to one another.

How far can love, even a life-long love, a love that had endured more than sixty years, take you?  Can the depths of love expand to the point where you can muster sufficient strength to end the life of the one person who occupies the largest piece of your heart?

G------answered that question in the second week of November last year, in Sun City, Arizona.  He raised the pistol and shot his beloved in the head...and ended her long suffering.  He then rose from the bed and called the family caregiver and told what he had done.  His next call was to the Sheriff.

A couple of days later 85 year old G--------- appeared in court, to hear the charge of murder, and to state a plea of guilt or innocence.  Having never been in a court of law he asked the judge for guidance.  He admitted killing his wife but pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder, according to the court's advice.

Before leaving the court the judge asked if he had any more questions.  The old man asked if he might have an extra blanket;  "the jail cell is very cold, I'm very cold and I can't seem to stop my back from spasming".

The judge queried the prosecutor about the nature of the case.  The prosecutor admitted that this had been a "mercy killing".  The judge granted bail at $20,000 dollars, hundreds of thousands of dollars less than that normally assessed for a first degree murder charge.

A family counsellor testified that, as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, as the memories of happier family gatherings are remembered, as the prospects for that same level of familial happiness dims with sickness and age, more contemplative discussions are held;  it is no longer a question of life or death...but how to meet death.  "How do we wish to die?", "Do we wish to die at home?"  "What is our thoughts about a quiet and dignified death?"  No doubt the two talked of this, stated the counsellor.

Many Christians, some moralists, have already assigned G_______to his own special place in hell.  They believe in the ultimate sanctity of life and that there can be no exceptions.  Those with a less structured sense of morality might offer a higher level of compassion, even asking what they themselves might do given the same set of circumstances.

Everyone that knows G------- says he is a very good man, that his years of tender caregiving show his deep love for V_________, a love so strong that he was willing to endure even greater pain in order to ease the pain of his beloved.  

Personally, my heart is aching this Valentine's Day, for a man who will sit in his little house this day,  awaiting the sentence of mortals, paying memorial homage to a beloved whom he once gifted with a box of candy, a heart felt, sweetly worded card and the quiet whisperings of love on a night long, long ago when spring was in their hearts.

Note:  Anyone who wishes to google the story can read the real names of these tragic lovers; I chose not to add to his misery on this day, dedicated to love.

The Shit Ass Series: General Electric

                                                   

General Electric used to be a great company.  Old timers may remember that this was the company started by Thomas Alva Edison to make light bulbs.  General Electric once wired millions of homes and halted the tragic trend of homes exploding into fire balls when their old gas pipes blew up.

General Electric used to make great small appliances like coffee makers and hand mixers and toasters.  They made some great refrigerators and electric stoves that lasted for half a century.

Then they go too big for their britches.  Now General Electric Corporation is nothing but a bunch of "shit asses".  They have become a huge conglomerate that makes medical scanners, build huge power plants and produce jet engines.  Nothing wrong with that except they got so damn big they became a global company, became greedy, lost their corporate conscience and told main street America to go to hell.

The same General Electric, with the CEO in Obama's pocket, who made $14 billion dollars in profits last year, yet paid not one dime in taxes.

General Electric bought NBC Universal and built a TV franchise that concentrates on kissing liberal ass and broadcasting liberal propaganda.  They hire desperate characters like convicted felon Al Sharpton and hire only liberal toadies like Keith Olberman and Joe Scarborough and Rachel Maddow and an army of ivy league liberal minorities that hate traditional American values.

G.E. Capital, the finance arm of General Electric, was one of those huge billion dollar banks that got bailed out by Obama and company back in 2009.  Their CEO, Jeffrey Imelt joined Obama's economic recovery team so he is able to keep one foot in the private sector and the other foot in government so that he can better suck up to Barack Obama.

General Electric was forced to sell half of NBC Universal last year to Comcast, another corporate behemoth.  G.E. had to sell off half their stake because Imelt got the company in such dire financial straights that there was no other way to pay the bills.

So, G.E. now farms out most of their manufacturing jobs to China even as Imelt was serving on Obama's Jobs Council, formed to figure out how to bring jobs back to America.  That alone is enough to give today's "shit ass" award to General Electric.

Wipe and Flush.

Lost In America; News, Weather, Zombiehood

                                                     
I've had a problem with sleep for a long time now.  I've complained to my wife about it quite often...until she finally said "so damn what...you're retired now, you don't have to be up in the morning, so sleep when you can, get up when you have to, and live with it."

So I do just that.  I have come to accept my zombihood, which is what I feel like when I get up about the time most of the younger folk are going to bed.

I guess I can start out with an early weather report.  Our warm weather and sunshine fled from us sometime last night.  I've awakened to find it's blowing cold out there this morning, so much so that when I let the doggies out they did their business quickly and return to the warmth of their beds.  Strangely, I always feel sorry for my Midwest friends and neighbors when a change of weather sweeps through Arizona.  I always know that when we get a strong rain storm, since our weather systems traditionally run west to east, my family in Missouri and Oklahoma are going to get biting cold and snow storms by the time the weather pattern reaches them.

I wrote last week of my re-read of "Vietnam, A History" by Stanley Karnow.  I related how that re-read prompted a flood of memories about my own experiences over there.  In my rush to relate the "personal impressions" I got from the book I forgot to mention two academic points that Karnow made about how differently we chose to fight that war.

From testimonials from troops who fought in Vietnam, most Vietnam veterans who served in ground army "grunt" units were dispatched to Vietnam as "replacements", rather than the traditional mode of deployment in "entire units".  Many vets said their experience in serving as unit replacements left them feeling cold and remote as they joined field units as "strangers".  They felt like they were slower to be accepted by others in their new unit which made their assignments difficult.  While I did not experience that same sense of remoteness I can certainly understand how that might be hard to take.  Those personal observations were quite poignant for me as I recall a good friend of mine, an army grunt, who died 17 days after arriving in country.  Sadly, he might have indeed died feeling remote and strange and lonely.

The second point Karnow made about the business of war fighting in Vietnam was the one year tour.  Karnow rightly points out that our fathers and grandfathers deployed overseas to fight in World War II and didn't come home until the war was settled.  Many of those deployed spent five or six years in war and never saw their family.  This raises the obvious question "could the outcome of the Vietnam war have been different if we were all sent over there and told we can only go home when we finish the damn thing?"  I believe the answer to that one is quite easy.  Because the war was micro-managed by politicians and bureaucrats in the basement of the White House, when the Air Force was told when and where to bomb by LBJ, and not from a strategic war plan, our Vietnam efforts were doomed to fail.

I have observed that our troops do far more deployments "by unit", rather than deploying as "replacements",  these days so maybe their were lessons learned from Vietnam after all.  Of course, our troops today are abused by having to perform far too many deployments but as I have written previously, this is due to the massive force cuts the military has suffered over the last twenty years.  There simply aren't enough troops to allow for fair and reasonable deployment schedules.

Finally, as I have often written about previously, I will give this to Obama:  he is finally winding down these ridiculous middle east wars.  I opposed them when Bush started them and oppose them today.  They are a massive waste of life and treasure and do little good.  A far more reasonable approach is to pre-position forces and supplies in allied countries like the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia so that we are always capable of executing rapid responses, executing terrorist hits when needed, and stay the hell away from occupying and nation building.

Just a few "zombie musings" on this early morn.

The Shit Ass Series: Green Mountain Coffee

                                               
Geen Mountain Coffee Corporation are a bunch of "shit asses".   For the two dozen people in the world who don't know who they are, they make those Keurig coffee brewers and pimp those little k-cup varieties of coffee.

Fortunately for Green Mountain, America is chocked full of lemmings who will get in line to buy the latest craze.  And sometimes that craze can overcome the failings of a bad product.  And one only need to go to Amazon.com and read the product reviews on these brewers.

Now, a business either succeeds or fails in the long run,  based on how they execute their business plan.  And they really have only two choices; make an attractive half-ass product and lasso the lemmings and get them to fork over big money for their product.  Or, secondly, invent a great product, continue to make improvements on it, and license out the technology so that other companies pay a fee for making like products based on outstanding technology.

Green Mountain Coffee has chosen to adopt the former business plan.  Produce a rather cool looking coffee brewer that has the looks of a low slung sexy sports car, make the brewer with the cheapest possible materials, guard your patent as if it were golden, make a dozen different models that all do essentially the same thing, then rake in huge profit margins from the lemmings.

The problem with Green Mountain's strategy is that eventually the lemmings wake up and realize they've been duped.  After experiencing brewer failures, mugs only half filled, coffee that comes out only half brewed, even the lemmings start complaining.

Another problem with Green Mountain's strategy is that, eventually, the patent expires on their product and competitors come in, invest a few extra pennies into making a quality brewer, and Green Mountain is left wondering what the hell happened.

So, I read this morning that Green Mountain Coffee came out with their latest earnings report.  The company has had to lower profit projections as fewer coffee brewers were sold during this past holiday season.  Analysts are also expecting competition from other brewer makers to heat up as Green Mountain's patent expired last September.  Finally, people are realizing a cute coffee brewer sitting on the counter isn't cute if it doesn't work.  So their stock price is tumbling.

However, the real reason is that Green Mountain Coffee has chosen to exploit their customers, selling a product for more than twice what it's worth, and failing to use those enormous profits to fix the flaws that prevail in all of their brewers.   Every year they come up with another model that does the same thing the old model's did, with the same fatal flaws, then jack the price up to $250 bucks so that you can enjoy lukewarm coffee in under a minute.

And do we even have to talk about the costs of those k-cups?

I've got a Bunn coffee maker.  It is not sleek, it is not sexy, it is quite ugly.  It makes superb coffee.  It makes an entire pot of coffee in less than two minutes.  Bunn's technology is so superior their brewers are used in virtually every restaurant in America.  I have to buy a new one every ten years, at about half the cost of the Keurig Vue.

So, my "shit ass" award for today goes to Green Mountain Coffee Company.  Wipe and Flush.

Government Inflation Lies & Why You Suffer

                                                     
In 1950 a loaf of bread would cost you .25 cents.  In 1964 that same loaf of bread would cost you .25 cents.  Same for a gallon of gas, or a pound of hamburger, or a quart of milk.  Inflation, for the every day items that we always buy, was nearly nonexistent.   Then, in the mid 1960's inflation began to rear its ugly head and the government felt the need to change the rules on how we measure inflation.  It became a convenient government cover, eliminating the charge that government spending and government practices were responsible for the reduction in your average earnings power.

Why is this important?  Again, consider the period from 1950 to 1964.  When prices for basic necessities remain stable, those 4% interest rates you received on your savings account represented "real savings", a welcome addition to your personal net worth.  And when you received a promotion, or a pay raise at work, that too was greatly in your, and the national economy's favor.  When the price of milk and hamburger and bread remained constant, that savings interest, and your pay raise enabled you to go out and buy a new car, or re-model your home, or buy the latest greatest refrigerator.  All of these purchases boosted our economy, created new jobs, and increased our personal wealth.

Then, in 1965 President Lyndon Johnson decided that he wanted to spend trillions of dollars on his Great Society programs.  Now, taken separately, America was probably wealthy enough to expend those dollars to satisfy Johnson's "Sugar Daddy" urges.  However, sadly, Johnson also decided he wanted to fight a war in Vietnam and there was simply not enough money in the pot to do both.  So Johnson put that long war on America's credit card.  Part of the money came from robbing the Social Security Fund, but as the years went by even that wasn't enough to keep this massive spending from affecting inflation rates.

Within a few years of this elevated spending it became necessary to do something that would hide ever rising inflation rates.  By the time Richard Nixon became president our national inflation rates were becoming a real concern.  Something had to be done as Americans were in near riot mode over escalating coffee and sugar and beef prices.  And by the time Jimmy Carter was ousted from office America was suffocating in 20% annual inflation rates.

So, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), whose job it is to determine the inflation rate, began to change the criteria for measuring inflation.  Rather than a straight year over year measure of increases or decreases, the BLS came up with innovative ways to cover up the problem of rising prices.

One of the most dishonest means was to eliminate the price increases for basic necessities from the measurement index.  For example, using phony economic theory,  the BLS says if the price of beef rises over 20 percent in a single year, Americans do not suffer since they would automatically give up buying beef and substitute chicken or pork to satisfy their beef needs!  I'm not making this up folks!  Go to the BLS site and read it for yourself!

Still another "fudge factor" is the BLS's new approach to measuring prices across the board.  For example, if the price of milk and eggs goes up, the BLS will disallow the price increase by showing that the price of a computer chip has gone down, thus offsetting the price increase of your dairy needs!  Try eating computer chips at breakfast!

And how many of you know that if the government decides to provide an additive to a gallon of gas, an additive that boosts the costs of that gallon of gas, the BLS will not measure that price increase since they deem an environmental benefit offsets the price of that gas and need not be counted!

Okay, so what does all this government gobbledygook have to do with you, "Joe Consumer?"  Well, it means that every year the price of beef and bread and milk and cotton and coffee and sugar go up.  These price rises severely reduce your buying power because while your basic needs rose by 8 percent last year but you received just a 2% pay raise, or pension hike, and you've lost 6 percent in buying power.  As this hidden inflation,  covered up by government lies, continues over a decade, you've lost 60 percent of your buying power...and didn't even know how it happened!

Each year your federal government issues a decree that the inflation rate was only 2.9% and they expect every one to cheer.  But, sadly, when you go to the grocery store, or fill up the gas tank, a terrible reality sets in and the government's grand lie becomes a bitter brew to swallow.  Those "price counters" who have no apron string ties to big government will tell you we are experiencing annual 8% inflation rates and our "real" take home pay is eroding at an alarming rate.

Just revisit that .25 cent bread, and that .25 cents per gallon gas over a 15 year period,  see that the price of what you "really" used stayed stable when the government operated within their budget.  Now look how wide the disparity between what the government says you're paying...and how much you're really paying and you begin to see the immensity of their lies.

One final note.  The federal rating agencies have already downgraded America's debt.  The number counters are now saying the federal government will be spending fully a third of all taxes just to pay interest on the national debt by the year 2016.  If you think it's bad now, try not think of consumer suffering, and the real inflation rates that will be buried behind phony BLS inflation statistics.  And please, don't even contemplate what will happen if China and Japan ever decide that they'll no longer be buying a trillion dollars of America's debt each year.  That is unless you have no problem with $10 dollar a gallon gas and a five dollar bill for a loaf of Wonder Bread.

Sad.  Damned Sad.

The Best Modern History Primer

                                                   
I have an old, well-worn modern history book that rests in the center console of my Honda van.  Half of the cover is now missing and every page is dog-eared.  The poor condition of the book is not because I have so little respect for it, but because the book is opened and read often.  When I'm stuck somewhere in a waiting line, or waiting for someone to arrive at the airport, I open this book to any random page and find something interesting to learn.

Written by Pulitzer Prize winner, and liberal Democrat, Theodore H. White, the book is entitled America In Search of Itself -The Making of The Presidency, 1956-1980.  I picked this copy from the shelf at a used book store.  I had previously read all of Teddy White's "The Making Of A President" series and found him to be easy to read and a true marvel at distilling the essential issues of a particular era.

This White book is far more valuable in explaining the history of the last half century than its title would indicate.  While White does dissect the national issues that brought down Jimmy Carter after one term, and why America was more than ready for the ascension of a Ronald Reagan, the real "nuggets" are found in White's reportage of how Lyndon Johnson's Great Society Programs impacted literally all three of our governing branches; the rise of an overactive and dictatorial liberal court system,  an Executive branch gone awry by Chief Executives bearing some serious personality disorders, and the flowering of a Congress that never met a new law they didn't like.

And keep in mind, Theodore H. White was a Kennedy Democrat, a historian that embraced the big government of a Franklin D. Roosevelt!  And yet, White offers objective and honest reporting about how Johnson's Great Society programs would greatly increase a federal government bureaucracy that would begin crippling Washington's ability to govern, how the ballooning budget expenditures would eventually force Richard Nixon to take America off the gold standard, and pinpoints the exact moment when America's role as the world's only economic superpower began to diminish.

America In Search of Itself was written in 1982.  As we look today at how crippling and inefficient the federal government has become, the reader of this book can appreciate just how perceptive Mr. White was in identifying the root causes of the current bureaucratic mess.

The real value of White's book is this:  for nearly half a century I've been actively involved in following national issues.  I've read a daily newspaper, a weekly newsmagazine, read histories of my era, and have actively followed the political issues necessary for making informed voting decisions.  But it is all too easy to allow the daily and weekly and yearly evolution of national political issues to meld together so readily that they become undecipherable.  We forget how we got into our current mess.

White provides a compendium of all the forces that worked together to bring us where we are today.  It is an outstanding "go to" guide for understanding our budget messes (go to page 160 and read about how the first spark of real inflation began to take us down), the evolution of judicial activism that is present in all facets of our lives today,  and how Presidential decisions made 50 years ago are impacting the lives of Americans today.

An honest effort by a noted liberal historian; this is a book that will never be read by a Harry Reid or a Nancy Pelosi, or our current Chief Executive.  It would keep them up at night.

Cinema Chicken Hawks Like Stallone

                                                 
I see where Sylvester Stallone has come out in support of a ban on assault weapons.  Doesn't surprise me at all.  Stallone's cinema career is dead, he's made all those millions playing heroic Vietnam war heroes and macho men and can now sit behind locked gates, employ a security team,  and say to hell with truth and reality.

It's ironic that guys like Van Damme and Stallone and Arnold all made their fortunes in movies that championed the most vulgar and dispicable violence ever brought to the silver screen.  And not a damn one of them felt the call to serve their country.  Heroics are easy when you've got a team of stunt men to do the dirty work, where there's no threat to their own safety, and where they can wait for "cut" and retreat to their palatial trailer for a break from the action.  It is far different when you live in the "real world" and must protect yourself.

None of this is new.  Some of our most successful action heroes were cowards in real life.  John Ford and John Wayne parted ways when the Duke decided to apply for a waiver from WWII service because, as he put it, "I'm now at the height of my fame, just now starting to make the big money, and don't want to jeopardize that success by having to take a break from show business and serve."  And yet, even today alot of people idolize John Wayne as the ultimate cinema hero.

But getting back to today's movie wusses.  Stallone wouldn't know a semi-automatic from an assault weapon if Arnold cracked him in the face with one.  But we're supposed to now fall in line with these cinematic elite and support restrictions on gun ownership.  I didn't buy Stallone during his whole career so why would I buy anything he says now.  After Rocky 1, Stallone just rode that fame for the next thirty years in a series of very bad movies.

I'll tell you who the "real" brave heroes are:  actors who are openly conservative and try to keep working in a liberal Hollywood that "blacklists" anyone who doesn't cow-tow to liberal dictates.

Lock and Load; the rest of us live in the real world.

Brief Encounters With The Rich & Famous

                                                     
I was watching some of the pre-Super Bowl coverage today.  It seems that many of the rich and famous are in New Orleans this week, either participating in some of the entertainment or just coming in to join the fun.

That got me to thinking about my own brief encounters with the rich and famous and I realized that, collectively, I've been fortunate to have met many of them over the years.  I don't count the great music concerts I attended as a teen, or all the celebrities who came to entertain us in Vietnam because there was no direct contact with them.  (Except for Ricardo Montalban whom I used to provide security for as he came to Saigon once a month to visit his army son; a charming and very kind man)

I guess the first of the famous I met was when I was about ten years old.  The great Bob Mathias, who had won the gold in the Olympic decathlon, had set up a kids camp not far from my home town.  I can't remember if the event was sponsored by a church group, or if it was through the Boy Scouts, but I was lucky enough to attend and hear Mathias and L.A. Rams kicker Danny Villaneuva talk about fitness and good sportsmanship.

The vast majority of celebrities I've met was during my Air Force service in Hawaii.  Just a mid-grade enlisted man at the time, I needed to work a part time job to make ends meet.  Because I was an Air Force Security cop I was easily able to secure a private security job at Honolulu International Airport.  Because of my experience I was assigned to a VIP gate at the airport.  At least at that time celebrities were able to access their flight directly from my gate, thus avoiding the public.   I worked two consecutive 8-hour shifts at that gate, from 8am to 12 midnight, both Saturday and Sunday.  Fortunately, I had the opportunity to meet most of the celebrities who vacationed, or lived in Hawaii at that time, and that helped to ward off the exhaustion of working 16 hour days.

The great New England Tight End, Russ Francis lived in Hawaii in the off season and was a frequent airport visitor as he greeted his guests, or was departing for the mainland.  That was also true for Tom Selleck during his Magnum P.I. days.  Both were polite and friendly.  Each Sunday evening I had two "regulars" at my gate.  One was long time Hawaii Senator Daniel Inoue, who would arrive at the airport, outbound for a flight back to Washington.  The other was Jack Lemmon, who was apparently living in Hawaii at the time.  Each Sunday night a VIP limo would pull up and park near my gate, while Lemmon sat in the back and awaited the arrival of his wife.  Jack was always polite but he always seemed depressed, not the happy guy one sees on the screen.  It would not be until twenty years or so later that I would learn that Jack was an alcoholic.  Maybe that was the reason for the morose face.

Other celebrities that I spent a little time with included Rod Stewart (and his new then wife Alana), Earth Wind and Fire, Tom Jones and, each Christmas, author Joe Wambaugh would stop by my gate, exchange pleasantries, and drop off a case of Scotch for the HPD cops assigned to the airport.

We also had week long chaos at the airport when Charlie's Angels came to film an episode in Hawaii.  The TV series was a hot commodity at that time and folks were creeping out of the woodwork trying to get a glimpse of the girls.  I have to admit I was enthralled by Cheryl Ladd and Jacuiline Smith and really enjoyed the eye candy during Angels week in Hawaii.  Learned that the fellow who played Bosley was in real life a total asshole.  He was the only celebrity I met who was both rude and arrogant.

The most personable celebrity I ever met was Loretta Switt, "Hot Lips" from MASH.  She had sprung for a Hawaiian vacation for her parents for their anniversary.  While waiting for their arrival she spent ten minutes with me, and for those ten minutes her total concentration was on me.  She asked questions about my service, and thanked me for it, asked about my family, and seemed sincerely interested in everything I had to say.  A lovely lady indeed.

The most beautiful lady I have ever met while working that VIP gate was not a celebrity at all.  She was a French- Polynesian lady, who worked in the United Air Lines VIP lounge in the airport.  Her uniform was not much different than what the airline stewardesses wore at that time, a conservative blouse, skirt and jacket.  In her mid twenties, my VIP lady was tall,  had curves in all the right places, had a flawless coffee and cream complexion, with azure eyes just about the shade of the Pacific at mid-morning.  Each Saturday and Sunday she parked her little red Audi next to my gate shack, perhaps so I could keep an eye on it for her.  She always stopped to talk for a few minutes and, after a few months I could actually carry on a conversation with her without a slack jaw silence at her immense beauty.  Each evening when she finished her shift she would stop by and bring me a coffee and some delicate little pastries and petit-fours from the VIP lounge.  I was always a bit in love with my French-Polynesian goddess and still am to this day.

Just a few musings this morning on Superbowl Day.